Method and apparatus for a reverse link supplemental channel scheduling

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for communications of scheduling information of reverse link transmissions are disclosed. A base station controller determines scheduling of a reverse link supplemental channel transmission for a mobile station in a communication system ( 100 ). The base station controller groups the mobile station in a group of mobile stations and assigns a forward link channel assignment channel to the group of mobile stations. A transceiver ( 400 ) incorporates information relating to the determined scheduling in the assigned forward link common assignment channel and transmits the assigned forward link common assignment channel to the mobile station for scheduling the reverse link supplemental channel transmission. The mobile station receives the assigned forward link common assignment channel. The mobile station schedules transmission of the reverse link supplemental channel transmission in accordance with the determined scheduling and transmits the reverse link supplemental channel in accordance with the determined scheduling.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/336,756 filed Dec. 4, 2001 entitled “Method and Apparatus forUsing Forward Common Assignment Channel for Scheduling in a CDMACommunication System”.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the field of communications,and more particularly, to data communications in a communication system.

BACKGROUND

In a communication system, a base station may use time division accesson a forward link transmission to a number of mobile stations in a codedivision multiple access communication system. Each mobile station isscheduled to receive a transmission during a time slot based on theforward link channel condition. The forward and reverse links channelconditions may change from time to time due to many different factorsincluding mobility of the mobile stations. As a result, the channelcondition between the base station and the mobile stations is alsochanging, creating a more favorable channel condition for a mobilestation than another. The base station schedules the mobile stationsreverse link transmissions. On the forward link, the base station needsto inform a mobile station when the mobile station is expected totransmit on a reverse link channel, such as a reverse link supplementalchannel. The reverse link scheduling is based on many factors includingthe number of mobile stations that may transmit on the reverse link atthe same time. The time between deciding the scheduling of a reverselink transmission for a mobile station and informing the mobile stationon the forward link is desired to be as short as possible. The reverselink channel condition may change, for example, for a mobile stationthat is scheduled for transmission but not informed very quickly. Whenthe scheduling information is received by the mobile station, thechannel condition for the reverse link transmission for the mobilestation may have deteriorated, thus leading to inefficient use ofcommunication resources. The reverse link scheduling information,however, is transmitted on the forward link. The transmission on theforward link to a mobile station is based on the forward link channelcondition with the mobile station. The mobile station may not have agood forward link channel condition; as a result, the mobile station maynot receive a transmission on the forward link for some time. Therefore,there is a need for a method and apparatus for scheduling communicationsof data in a communication system.

SUMMARY

An apparatus and method for communications of scheduling information ofreverse link transmissions in a timely manner are disclosed. A basestation controller determines scheduling of a reverse link supplementalchannel transmission for a mobile station in a communication system. Thebase station controller groups the mobile station in a group of mobilestations in the communication system. The base station controllerassigns a forward link channel assignment channel to the group of mobilestations. A transmitter incorporates information relating to thedetermined scheduling in the assigned forward link common assignmentchannel. The transmitter transmits the assigned forward link commonassignment channel to the mobile station for scheduling the reverse linksupplemental channel transmission. A receiver in the mobile stationreceives the assigned forward link common assignment channel. Acontroller in the mobile station schedules transmission of the reverselink supplemental channel transmission from the mobile station inaccordance with the determined scheduling. A transmitter in the mobilestation transmits the reverse link supplemental channel in accordancewith the determined scheduling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the detailed description set forth below whentaken in conjunction with the drawings in which like referencecharacters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system capable of operating inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a communication system receiver for receiving anddecoding received packets of data in accordance with embodiments aspectsof the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a communication system transmitter for transmittingdata packets in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a transceiver system capable of operating inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates various steps for transmitting a reverse linksupplemental channel scheduling information for each mobile station in agroup of mobile stations in a communication system in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates various steps for transmitting a reverse linksupplemental channel scheduling information for a mobile station in acommunication system in accordance with various embodiments of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS(S)

Generally stated, a novel and improved method and apparatus provide forcommunications of reverse link supplemental channels schedulinginformation in a communication system. One or more exemplary embodimentsdescribed herein are set forth in the context of a digital wireless datacommunication system. While use within this context is advantageous,different embodiments of the invention may be incorporated in differentenvironments or configurations. In general, the various systemsdescribed herein may be formed using software-controlled processors,integrated circuits, or discrete logic. The data, instructions,commands, information, signals, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the application are advantageously represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or a combination thereof. In addition, theblocks shown in each block diagram may represent hardware or methodsteps.

More specifically, various embodiments of the invention may beincorporated in a wireless communication system operating in accordancewith the code division multiple access (CDMA) technique which has beendisclosed and described in various standards published by theTelecommunication Industry Association (TIA) and other standardsorganizations. Such standards include the TIA/EIA-95 standard,TIA/EIA-IS-2000 standard, IMT-2000 standard, UMTS and WCDMA standard,all incorporated by reference herein. A system for communication of datais also detailed in the “TIA/EIA/IS-856 cdma2000 High Rate Packet DataAir Interface Specification,” incorporated by reference herein. A copyof the standards may be obtained by writing to TIA, Standards andTechnology Department, 2500 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA. 22201, U.S.of A. The standard generally identified as UMTS standard, incorporatedby reference herein, may be obtained by contacting 3GPP Support Office,650 Route des Lucioles-Sophia Antipolis, Valbonne-France.

FIG. 1 illustrates a general block diagram of a communication system 100capable of operating in accordance with any of the code divisionmultiple access (CDMA) communication system standards whileincorporating various embodiments of the invention. Communication system100 may be for communications of voice, data or both. Generally,communication system 100 includes a base station 101 that providescommunication links between a number of mobile stations, such as mobilestations 102-104, and between the mobile stations 102-104 and a publicswitch telephone and data network 105. The mobile stations in FIG. 1 maybe referred to as data access terminals (AT) and the base station asdata access network (AN) without departing from the main scope andvarious advantages of the invention. Base station 101 may include anumber of components, such as a base station controller and a basetransceiver system. For simplicity, such components are not shown. Basestation 101 may be in communication with other base stations, forexample base station 160. A mobile switching center (not shown) maycontrol various operating aspects of the communication system 100 and inrelation to a backhaul 199 between network 105 and base stations 101 and160.

Base station 101 communicates with each mobile station that is in itscoverage area via a forward link signal transmitted from base station101. The forward link signals targeted for mobile stations 102-104 maybe summed to form a forward link signal 106. Each of the mobile stations102-104 receiving forward link signal 106 decodes the forward linksignal 106 to extract the information that is targeted for its user.Base station 160 may also communicate with the mobile stations that arein its coverage area via a forward link signal transmitted from basestation 160. The forward link signal transmitted from a base station maybe conformed in accordance with a time division multiple accesstechnique. As such, a mobile station may be assigned a time slot forreceiving communication from the base station. The mobile stations maydecode the received forward link to find whether any data is beingcommunicated for its user. Mobile stations 102-104 communicate with basestations 101 and 160 via corresponding reverse links. Each reverse linkis maintained by a reverse link signal, such as reverse link signals107-109 for respectively mobile stations 102-104. The reverse linksignals 107-109, although may be targeted for one base station, may bereceived at other base stations.

Base stations 101 and 160 may be simultaneously communicating to acommon mobile station. For example, mobile station 102 may be in closeproximity of base stations 101 and 160, which can maintaincommunications with both base stations 101 and 160. On the forward link,base station 101 transmits on forward link signal 106, and base station160 on the forward link signal 161. On the reverse link, mobile station102 transmits on reverse link signal 107 to be received by both basestations 101 and 160. For transmitting a packet of data to mobilestation 102, one of the base stations 101 and 160 may be selected totransmit the packet of data to mobile station 102. On the reverse link,both base stations 101 and 160 may attempt to decode the traffic datatransmission from the mobile station 102. The data rate and power levelof the reverse and forward links may be maintained in accordance withthe channel condition between the base station and the mobile station.

The transmissions on the forward links may be in accordance with a timedivision access scheme. The mobile stations in the coverage areacontinuously communicate channel quality indicator (CQI) informationabout the channel condition with each base station. A mobile stationselects one of the base stations to transmit information on the forwardlink. The selection may be based on the quality of channel conditionwith the base station. The base station may be selected by a number ofmobile stations. On the forward link, the base station may attempt touse a scheduling algorithm to schedule the forward link transmissions.For example, a mobile station that needs low data rate transmission atlow power level may be served before a mobile station that needs highdata rate and high power level transmission. Nevertheless, all mobilestations are attempted to be served on an equitable basis. In accordancewith various aspects of the invention, a forward link common assignmentchannel (F-CACH) may be used for informing the mobile station aboutscheduling a reverse link supplemental channel transmission. The F-CACHmay be assigned to a group of mobile stations at a time in accordancewith various aspects of the invention. The F-CACH is at a lower datarate than other forward link data channel, exclusively at all times. Asa result, the delay in informing the mobile station about the reverselink scheduling is maintained at a minimal level.

The forward link may include a number of channels. A forward link packetdata channel (F-PDCH) may be used to transmit data and signaling data tothe mobile station. F-PDCH may be transmitted over a 1.25 mSec time slotwith a minimum of 384 bits and up to 3840 bits. If fewer than 384 bitsare being transmitted, the time slot is padded with null data bits. TheF-PDCH is also transmitted at the same time with a forward link packetdata control channel (F-PDCCH). F-PDCCH is a control channel andtransmitted over a 1.25 mSec time slot, and includes 21 data bits. Thedata rate of F-PDCCH is much lower than the minimum data rate of F-PDCH.The forward link also has a forward common power control channel(F-CPCCH) that controls the mobile stations reverse link power level.The reverse link has a dedicated control channel (R-DCCH) that is usedfor transmission of data and signaling information. A reverse link CQIchannel (R-CQICH) is also used by the mobile station to indicate theforward link channel condition with a selected base station. The reverselink acknowledgment channel (R-ACKCH) is used by the mobile station toacknowledge proper reception of a data packet on the forward link. TheF-PDCH and F-PDCCH are transmitted at the same time. For example, on theforward link, the MS 103 may be scheduled to receive data during timeslots 150, 152 and 154, MS 102 during time slot 151, and MS 104 duringtime slot 153.

On the reverse link, a supplemental channel (R-SCH) may also be used byall mobile stations to transmit data to a base station. The R-SCH may beshared among all mobile stations, thus each mobile station may transmitduring certain time slots of the R-SCH. The base station transmits thescheduling information on the F-CACH to inform which mobile station isallowed to use the R-SCH and at what time slots in accordance withvarious aspects of the invention. In addition, the communication system100 may allow for a number of reverse link supplemental channels. Amobile station may be assigned to use a supplemental channel exclusivelyfor a time period measured in units of time frame. One time frame may be20 Msec long or equal to 16 time slots. The condition for transmittingon R-SCH may change very quickly. Once the base station decides to allowa mobile station to transmit on R-SCH, the scheduling information issent on the forward link to the mobile station very quickly. Inaccordance with various aspects of the invention, the F-CACH may be usedfor scheduling the R-SCH.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a receiver 200 used for processingand demodulating the received CDMA signal. Receiver 200 may be used fordecoding the information on the reverse and forward links signals.Received (Rx) samples may be stored in RAM 204. Receive samples aregenerated by a radio frequency/intermediate frequency (RF/IF) system 290and an antenna system 292. The RF/IF system 290 and antenna system 292may include one or more components for receiving multiple signals andRF/IF processing of the received signals for taking advantage of thereceive diversity gain. Multiple received signals propagated throughdifferent propagation paths may be from a common source. Antenna system292 receives the RF signals, and passes the RF signals to RF/IF system290. RF/IF system 290 may be any conventional RF/IF receiver. Thereceived RF signals are filtered, down-converted and digitized to formRX samples at base band frequencies. The samples are supplied to ademultiplexer (demux) 202. The output of demux 202 is supplied to asearcher unit 206 and finger elements 208. A control unit 210 is coupledthereto. A combiner 212 couples a decoder 214 to finger elements 208.Control unit 210 may be a microprocessor controlled by software, and maybe located on the same integrated circuit or on a separate integratedcircuit. The decoding function in decoder 214 may be in accordance witha turbo decoder or any other suitable decoding algorithms.

During operation, received samples are supplied to demux 202. Demux 202supplies the samples to searcher unit 206 and finger elements 208.Control unit 210 configures finger elements 208 to perform demodulationand despreading of the received signal at different time offsets basedon search results from searcher unit 206. The results of thedemodulation are combined and passed to decoder 214. Decoder 214 decodesthe data and outputs the decoded data. Despreading of the channels isperformed by multiplying the received samples with the complex conjugateof the PN sequence and assigned Walsh function at a single timinghypothesis and digitally filtering the resulting samples, often with anintegrate and dump accumulator circuit (not shown). Such a technique iscommonly known in the art. Receiver 200 may be used in a receiverportion of base stations 101 and 160 for processing the received reverselink signals from the mobile stations, and in a receiver portion of anyof the mobile stations for processing the received forward link signals.

The channel quality with each base station may be based on a carrier tointerference ratio (C/I) of the signal received from each base station.The pilot signal transmitted from each base station may be used todetermine the C/I of the channel. Searcher 206 in connection withcontrol system 210 may rank the channel condition of multiple basestations. Several of the base stations with good channel conditions maybe selected to form an active set of base stations. The active set ofbase stations are capable of communicating with the mobile station at anacceptable level. The mobile station may select one of the base stationsin the active set as the best candidate for transmitting data. Theselection is communicated to the base stations on the R-CQICH. The basestation controller via backhaul 199 directs the data to the selectedbase station for transmission to the mobile station on the forward link.The selected base station then schedules a transmission to the mobilestation. Since several mobile stations may select the same base station,the base station attempts to schedule each mobile station based on anumber of factors, such as the quality of the forward link channelcondition, amount of data being transmitted, data rate and power levelof transmission. For example, if a mobile station reported a low levelchannel quality and requires transmission of a lot of data, the mobilestation is scheduled after another mobile station that requirestransmission of a small amount data and reported a high level channelquality. In accordance with various aspects of the invention, since theF-CACH normally communicates at low data rate, the F-CACH may be used totransmit the scheduling information of the R-SCH. As a result, thescheduling information may be received on the F-CACH by the mobilestation very quickly before the channel condition for transmission ofthe R-SCH changes. Receiver 200 may operate to decode the receivedF-CACH for retrieving the scheduling information. A transmittertransmits the R-SCH in accordance with the scheduling information.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a transmitter 300 for transmittingthe reverse and forward link signals. The channel data for transmissionare input to a modulator 301 for modulation. The modulation may beaccording to any of the commonly known modulation techniques such asQAM, PSK or BPSK. The data is encoded at a data rate in modulator 301.The data rate may be selected by a data rate and power level selector303. The data in each channel is also covered with a Walsh function.Each channel may be assigned a Walsh function. The data rate selectionmay be based on feedback information received from a receivingdestination. The feedback information may include the maximum alloweddata rate. The maximum allowed data rate may be determined in accordancewith various commonly known algorithms. The maximum allowed data ratevery often is based on the channel condition, among other consideredfactors. The data rate and power level selector 303 accordingly selectsthe data rate in modulator 301. The output of modulator 301 passesthrough a signal spreading operation and amplified in a block 302 fortransmission from an antenna 304. The data rate and power level selector303 also selects a power level for the amplification level of thetransmitted signal in accordance with the feedback information. Thecombination of the selected data rate and the power level allows properdecoding of the transmitted data at the receiving destination. A pilotsignal is also generated in a block 307. The pilot signal is amplifiedto an appropriate level in block 307. The pilot signal power level maybe in accordance with the channel condition at the receivingdestination. The pilot signal is combined with the channel signal in acombiner 308. The combined signal may be amplified in an amplifier 309and transmitted from antenna 304. The antenna 304 may be in any numberof combinations including antenna arrays and multiple input multipleoutput configurations. The transmitter 300 may be incorporated in amobile station or a base station. As such, the transmitter 300 in amobile station transmits the R-SCH in accordance with the schedulinginformation. The transmitter 300 may be used in a base station fortransmitting the F-CACH.

FIG. 4 depicts a general diagram of a transceiver system 400 forincorporating receiver 200 and transmitter 300 for maintaining acommunication link with a destination. The transceiver 400 may beincorporated in a mobile station or a base station. The transceiver 400may be used to receive the F-CACH for decoding the schedulinginformation, and transmitting on the R-SCH in accordance with thereceived scheduling information. The transceiver 400 may also be used ina base station for transmitting the F-CACH. A processor 401 may becoupled to receiver 200 and transmitter 300 to process the received andtransmitted data. Various aspects of the receiver 200 and transmitter300 may be common, even though receiver 200 and transmitter 300 areshown separately. In one aspect, receiver 200 and transmitter 300 mayshare a common local oscillator and a common antenna system for RF/IFreceiving and transmitting. Transmitter 300 receives the data fortransmission on input 405. Transmit data processing block 403 preparesthe data for transmission on a transmit channel. The processor 401through the transmit data processing block 403 may schedule transmissionof data to various mobile stations on the forward link. Received data,after being decoded in decoder 214, are received at processor 401 at aninput 404. Received data are processed in received data processing block402 in processor 401. The processing of the received data generallyincludes checking for error in the received packets of data. Forexample, if a received packet of data has error at an unacceptablelevel, the received data processing block 402 sends an instruction totransmit data processing block 403 for making a request forretransmission of the packet of data. The request is transmitted on atransmit channel, such as on the R-ACKCH. A receive data storage unit480 may be utilized to store the received packets of data.

Various operations of processor 401 may be integrated in a single ormultiple processing units. The transceiver 400 may be incorporated in amobile station. The transceiver 400 may be connected to another device.The transceiver 400 may be an integral part of the device. The devicemay be a computer or operates similar to a computer. The device may beconnected to a data network, such as Internet. In case of incorporatingthe transceiver 400 in a base station, the base station through severalconnections may be connected to a network, such as Internet.

For scheduling a R-SCH transmission, various aspects of the inventionmay be more apparent by referring to FIG. 5 illustrating various stepsof a flow diagram 500. At step 501, base station 101 or 160 may group anumber of mobile stations in the communication system 100 into aplurality of groups of mobile stations. The grouping may be performed ina manner consistent with various aspects of the invention. For example,upon registration to the base station, the base station assigns themobile station to one of the groups. At step 502, a corresponding numberof F-CACHs are assigned to the plurality of groups of mobile stations.For example, the communication system 100 may have three F-CACHs. Eachchannel is assigned to a group of mobile stations. At step 503, the basestation transmits the R-SCH scheduling information for each group ofmobile stations on the corresponding assigned F-CACH in accordance withvarious aspects of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a flow chart 600 illustrates scheduling of theR-SCH in accordance with various aspects of the invention. At step 601,the base station may determine scheduling a transmission on the R-SCHfor a mobile station. Once a mobile station exhibits good reverse linkchannel condition, the base station needs to inform the mobile stationvery quickly about the R-SCH scheduling before the reverse link channelcondition changes. At step 602, the base station incorporates thescheduling information onto the F-CACH. The F-CACH is assigned to themobile station in accordance with various steps described in relation toflow chart 500. At step 603, the base station transmits the schedulinginformation on the F-CACH to the mobile station. At step 604, the mobilestation receives the scheduling information on the assigned F-CACH. Atstep 605, the mobile station schedules the transmission of R-SCH basedon the received scheduling information. At step 606, the mobile stationtransmits on the R-SCH in accordance with the received schedulinginformation of the assigned F-CACH. Therefore, the mobile stationreceives the scheduling information very quickly, and is able toschedule the reverse link transmission before the channel condition forthe reverse link changes very drastically.

Those of skill in the art would further appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination. A softwaremodule may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory,EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or anyother form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storagemedium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. Theprocessor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC mayreside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and thestorage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

The previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. The various modifications to these embodiments will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principlesdefined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use ofthe inventive faculty. Thus, the present invention is not intended to belimited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widestscope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for transmitting reverse linksupplemental channel scheduling information in a communication system,comprising: grouping a number of mobile stations in said communicationsystem into a plurality of groups of mobile stations; assigning acorresponding number of forward link common assignment channels to saidplurality of groups of mobile stations; and transmitting said reverselink supplemental channel scheduling information on said correspondingnumber of forward link common assignment channels assigned to saidplurality of groups of mobile stations, wherein the corresponding numberof forward link common assignment channels have a data rate lower thanforward link data channels.
 2. An apparatus for transmitting reverselink supplemental channel scheduling information in a communicationsystem, comprising: a base station controller for grouping a number ofmobile stations in said communication system into a plurality of groupsof mobile stations, and for assigning a corresponding number of forwardlink common assignment channels to said plurality of groups of mobilestations; and a transmitter for transmitting said reverse linksupplemental channel scheduling information on said corresponding numberof forward link common assignment channels assigned to said plurality ofgroups of mobile stations, wherein the corresponding number of forwardlink common assignment channels have a data rate lower than forward linkdata channels.
 3. A method for communications of scheduling informationof reverse link transmissions, comprising: determining scheduling of areverse link supplemental channel transmission for a mobile station in acommunication system; grouping said mobile station in a group of mobilestations in said communication system; assigning a forward link commonassignment channel to said group of mobile stations, wherein the forwardlink common assignment channel has a data rate lower than forward linkdata channels; incorporating information relating to said determinedscheduling in said assigned forward link common assignment channel; andtransmitting said assigned forward link common assignment channel tosaid mobile station for scheduling said reverse link supplementalchannel transmission.
 4. The method as recited in claim 3, furthercomprising: receiving said assigned forward link common assignmentchannel at said mobile station; and scheduling transmission of saidreverse link supplemental channel transmission from said mobile stationin accordance with said determined scheduling.
 5. The method as recitedin claim 4, further comprising: transmitting said reverse linksupplemental channel in accordance with said determined scheduling. 6.An apparatus for communications of scheduling information of reverselink transmissions, comprising: a base station controller fordetermining scheduling of a reverse link supplemental channeltransmission for a mobile station in a communication system, forgrouping said mobile station in a group of mobile stations in saidcommunication system, and assigning a forward link common assignmentchannel to said group of mobile stations, wherein the forward linkcommon assignment channel has a data rate lower than forward link datachannels; and a transmitter for incorporating information relating tosaid determined scheduling in said assigned forward link commonassignment channel, and transmitting said assigned forward link commonassignment channel to said mobile station for scheduling said reverselink supplemental channel transmission.
 7. The apparatus as recited inclaim 6, further comprising: a receiver in said mobile station forreceiving said assigned forward link common assignment channel at saidmobile station; and a controller in said mobile station for schedulingtransmission of said reverse link supplemental channel transmission fromsaid mobile station in accordance with said determined scheduling. 8.The apparatus as recited in claim 7, further comprising: a transmitterin said mobile station for transmitting said reverse link supplementalchannel in accordance with said determined scheduling.
 9. A method fortransmission of a reverse link supplemental channel in accordance with atransmission scheduling information, comprising: identifying grouping ofa mobile station in a group of mobile stations in a communicationsystem; identifying a forward link common assignment channel assigned tosaid group of mobile stations, wherein the forward link commonassignment channel has a data rate lower than forward link datachannels; receiving said assigned forward link common assignment channelat said mobile station; and determining scheduling of said reverse linksupplemental channel transmission for said mobile station in saidcommunication system based on said receiving.
 10. The method as recitedin claim 9, further comprising: scheduling transmission of said reverselink supplemental channel transmission from said mobile station inaccordance with said determined scheduling; and transmitting saidreverse link supplemental channel in accordance with said determinedscheduling.
 11. An apparatus for transmission of a reverse linksupplemental channel in accordance with a transmission schedulinginformation, comprising: a controller for identifying grouping of amobile station in a group of mobile stations in a communication system,and identifying a forward link channel common assignment channelassigned to said group of mobile stations, wherein the forward linkcommon assignment channel has a data rate lower than forward link datachannels; and a receiver for receiving said assigned forward link commonassignment channel at said mobile station; wherein said controller isfurther for determining scheduling of said reverse link supplementalchannel transmission for said mobile station in said communicationsystem based on said receiving.
 12. The apparatus as recited in claim11, further comprising: wherein said controller is further forscheduling transmission of said reverse link supplemental channeltransmission from said mobile station in accordance with said determinedscheduling; and a transmitter for transmitting said reverse linksupplemental channel in accordance with said determined scheduling.